The popular children’s toy that’s injuring thousands

Nearly 100,000 kids were injured on trampolines in 2009. The most common injuries include sprains, strains and contusions. (Shutterstock / Sonya Etchison)

In the backyards of family homes across America, kids are jumping up and down and doing flips and other fancy gymnastics moves. Trampolines are now one of the hottest toys for kids and they’re at the top of many children’s holiday and birthday wish lists.

But now the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is saying that kids shouldn’t be bouncing around on backyard trampolines and they’re asking pediatricians to help them spread the word about their dangers.

In the past the AAP has published guidelines for safe trampoline use but yesterday the organization released revised guidelines stating that the play equipment should be entirely avoided because too many children are getting injured.

Trampoline injury rates skyrocketed in the 1990s, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s
(USCPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), and peaked in 2004. Rates have decreased ever since, yet a statement published in the Pediatrics journal cited nearly 100,000 trampoline injuries in 2009, with 3,100 of those kids going to the hospital.

Dr. Michele LaBotz, leading author of the new AAP statement and a sports medicine physician at Intermed Sports Medicine in Portland, Me., told NBC News:

I think parents see the soft springy mat and they think it’s safe, like water,” LaBotz said. “What they don’t realize is that once you get it to bouncing, especially if there are multiple users, it can be dangerous. Bigger kids and adults like to rocket propel up the little kids, getting them to bounce higher than they would otherwise and if the kid comes down wrong, it is the same as falling 9 or 10 feet onto a hard surface.

Pediatricians need to actively discourage recreational trampoline use,” said LaBotz, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics executive council on sports medicine and fitness. “This is not a toy. It’s a piece of equipment. We recommend that you not provide it for your family or your neighbors to use. But if you do use one, you need to be aware of the risks.

Most trampoline accidents occur when more than one person is jumping and smaller younger kids are at a greater risk. The most common injuries include sprains, strains and contusions, and cervical spine injuries can occur when a child attempts somersaults or flips or falls off the trampoline. Trampolines now typically come with a safety net that surrounds the trampoline to prevent falls but the AAP report indicates that these are often ineffective.

What do you think? Is the AAP overreacting?

My kids recently bounced around on a trampoline with a pack of kids at a friend’s house. The fun ended with two kids colliding and knocking heads. I also hurt myself when I was climbing down the tramp’s ladder and fell and got my leg tangled up in the rungs. My leg was black and blue with a bruise that extended from my hip to my knee for several weeks. Nobody went to the hospital but I can understand why injuries are common. But then again kids get hurt climbing trees, riding bikes, jumping on beds, and simply running around. Are trampolines any more dangerous?